Problem: If you install the software supplied with this stick on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), your Mac will hang when it is next rebooted.
Cause: The installer replaces libcurl.4.dylib with it’s own version, which doesn’t have a 64-bit version available. Pretty much everything uses libcurl, including the LoginWindow, so you can’t get into your Mac.
Solution: Replace libcurl.4.dylib with the version originally supplied with Snow Leopard. If you’ve lost yours, you can download mine. Unzip it and put it in /usr/lib – replacing the version already there. If you can’t boot your Mac, you can do this in target disk mode from another Mac, or use single-user mode.
After replacing the file, your Mac will boot, and yes, the stick will work.
Note: This is a complicated procedure, so if you don’t understand it, please ask someone else to help you. I cannot.
P.S.: Did I save your computer? Here’s my wish list. 
Update 17/10/09: A friendly commenter told me that T-Mobile UK, unbelievably haven’t heard of the problem. It’s bad enough that they didn’t bother to test any of the pre-release versions of Snow Leopard which were available for months before it was actually released – but it’s utterly inexcusable that they haven’t even bothered to try it after it was available in the shops. T-Mobile: If you’re reading this, this page has had over 2,000 views this month alone. I offer you the chance to respond publically, here. Email me, my address is in the sidebar.
Update 20/10/09: Paco Hope has done a very good summary of how poor the ZTE software is. I agree with him.
Update 21/10/09: I contacted T-Mobile UK and asked for an official response. No response was ever received.
Update 27/10/09: Commenter Rafal Grabczewski has very kindly provided updated drivers that work with Snow Leopard, direct from ZTE! You can download them here. I haven’t tried these yet – so let me know if they work for you! – Maybe not, see comments below.
Update 27/11/09: T-Mobile have now posted a tiny warning at the bottom of this hard to find page – but still haven’t done anything about actually fixing the problem. Amusingly they say the stick causes “serious system instability”. Well yes, I suppose “not working at all” is a kind of instability. Sort of.
Update 23/3/10: Sticks bought recently have stickers on that say “Now 10.6 compliant”. I haven’t actually tested one, so I don’t know what has changed, or whether it’s possible to update an existing stick. I will find out.
Hey, Thanks! You saved my day =)
Thanks a lot, you saved my day, too!
Hi there!
If I understood it correctly, your ZTE MF626 is working on SL in 64-bit mode?
I use the same USB stick down here in Brazil (provided by Vivo) and the connection manager does not work in 64-bit mode, maybe your version is newer, do you know where can I download it? The ZTE site is of little help…
Thanks
As far as I know, I’m not running it in 64-bit mode.
Got it. OK David, lets wait for a solution from Apple or from ZTE…Thanks
Spotlight for me doesn’t find my current libcurl.4.dylib file for me to replace it.
Also, because of the T-Mobile install I cannot unzip files!
I told you where it is, it’s in /usr/lib. Spotlight doesn’t find system files.
You’ll need another working Mac to unzip it.
LEGEND! Just rebooted after installing the software for the ZTE MF637 and it hung. Can’t tell you how thankful I am for this info and that it worked!
David, thank you so much! You saved me!
This also works for ZTE MF110 sticks.
Hi!
Do you think, it will work: after i installed the modem’s software, BEFORE the reboot i replace the installed file with the original?
Yes, that works fine.
Could someone kindly a procedure with this? I have copied the file to my USB key and booted in to Single User Mode, now I am at the CL line and a bit lost!!! :-/
thank you so much, actually found this post before i rebooted, but everything was already acting weird – first time i’m really glad to have a dual boot winxp setup with macdrive on my macbook.
Thanks David, you made my day. T-mobile in the UK say they haven’t heard of the problem, so I’ve pointed them to your blog.
Just a quick look in /usr/lib reveals a few other files with the same date …
mbp-wifi$ ls -ltr | grep Feb
-rwxr-xr-x 1 pgdh pgdh 25464 27 Feb 2009 libmd5.dylib*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 pgdh pgdh 522284 27 Feb 2009 libcurl.4.dylib*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 pgdh pgdh 208640 27 Feb 2009 libTinyXml.dylib*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 pgdh pgdh 179412 27 Feb 2009 libAgent.dylib*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 pgdh pgdh 163616 27 Feb 2009 bkLib.dylib*
mbp-wifi$
I wonder if any of those are going to prove a problem too, or others elsewhere in the filesystem?
It’s possible. My laptop has been running for a while, though, and I haven’t seen any obvious problems.
I’ve done a bit of research and discovered that none of those other files exist on a clean Snow Leopard install.
So libcurl is the only one modified.
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Blogged my experience here http://harpeople.com/mt/?p=81
Ha. Wish I’d seen this before reformatting and restoring from Time Machine! Oh well.
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Thanks for this David. Just checked with T-Mobile’s website, and eventually found this:
http://tm.feedbacklab.com/display/support/Snow+Leopard+compatibility
“Apple’s latest operating system update Mac OS X 10.6 – Snow Leopard – has now been released and we’re currently testing compatibility of our Mobile Broadband products against it.
If software updates are required we’ll post them to this site as soon as they’re ready.
In the meantime, if you need to continue to use your Mobile Broadband we’d recommend you stick with your current operating system, just in case there are any compatibility issues with Snow Leopard.”
Hi,
If you are interested I have the latest drivers for ZTE USB Modems which are compatible with Snow Leopard.
You can find them at http://w93.wrzuta.pl/plik/1ZqKnpzcEoY/ztedatacarddriverinstallerv1-3-0.pkg.
I tested these drivers on SL with ZTE MF100, MF668, MF636, MF637 and they all worked fine.
So I’ve had a look at this driver – and it won’t actually solve the problem. It doesn’t contain a new version of libcurl, or indeed any version of libcurl, or even the dial-up application itself.
In fact, all it seems to contain are replacement kernel extensions and a modem script – but these were never the problem in the first place.
what a driver for firmware or internet monitoring
With I had found this site before installing the dongle. Ended up doing a fresh install of SL
Thanks David for posting this thread, it prevented me from a reinstall!
Telering (Austrian provider) sell the same dongle and they didn’t mention any know problems with Mac OS X. I’m gonna tell them now…
This saved my ass while on business in London. T-Mobile is such a shit firm! I used fire wire disk mode and connected to another Mac. From there, I copied the correct version of libcurl to my Mac and restarted it. All fixed! Thanks very much for posting this.
T-mobile SUX BIG TIME… it totally fucked up my day…
BIG THANX… to DAVE
1. Mounted with APPLE-T in Target mode
2. Ran “defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE”
in terminal to see hidden files
3. Replaced the file
4. Rebooted – All good
This just happened to me with the German internet provider 1&1 and a MF110, I will try your fix tonight. Thank you for posting.
Thanks, life saver!
Same thing with Arnet in Argentina. After reinstalling SL I found your solution, which also works with the ZFE110 stick. My provider couldn’t even understand what I was talking about.
Thanks!
The stick is now support by nowamedias launch2net v1.8.8.9.
it’s not supported in launch2net.
It is definitily supported. I bought the new version just befor x-mas and used it with the T-Mobile Fusion Stick.
The ZTE MF626 is not supported… I contacted novamedia and they confirmed this.
http://www.novamedia.de/devices/devices-launch2net-mac.html
If it does work for you, how did you set it up?
Thank you David , I brought my MF110 at China which after I install the connection manager ,My MBP can’t restart ! I have to recover my MBP from Time machine. Then I search from Web and find your page ,IT WORKS! I really want to say Thanks to you. And ZTE is suck!I can’t find any update or support page at their web site.I won’t buy any product from ZTE at the furture!
Hi all!
I do have the exact same problem with the stick ZTE mf 110. But even after replacing the file my computers (it crasehd 2 of them) don’t boot up anymore!
Anyone any clue what I can do???? Any help greatly appreciated!!!!
Hey guys!
Just received the MF626 from Telekom Austria and they didn’t bother to include ANY Mac software! Can someone help me out here? THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!
For those having trouble getting the replacement file across (Probably, those like me without another mac or firewire cable), I’ve incorporated the information here with how I managed to get the file across (SCP in Single User mode).
http://www.mike-hughes.net/it/mac/t-mobile-3g-dongle-and-osx-snow-leopard/
David, Feel free to pull the extra bits into your article if you like.
Is it possible to replace the firmware stored in the USB stick when it’s in storage mode? This way we could change the offending file.
You saved my day! (or, well, my *second* day, I backed up and reinstalled SL, but you saved me from doing that crap again).
I’ve got to the stage where I tried a reboot.. and as such cannot get past the grey screen.
Will running the Repair tool with the original OS disc work? If not, will an “Archive and Install” re-install fix it and keep all personal files?
Thanks for this site. Although was far too late for me and yes it screwed my brand new Macbook Pro which I first ressucitated with a OS reinstall from the disk after backing up the drive (this info can be useful to some, connect with firewire to another mac, power on holding ‘T’ key and it becomes an external HD even if it doesn’t boot!). But then had to have the whole MacBook Pro replaced at Apple as it kept freaking out totally.
Hey I don’t know who should be blamed between Apple or T-Mobile really but yes that’s a dead serious problem that might touch a lot of people!
Anyone tried the other T-Mobile dongles with SL?
After using a code to show hidden files I still can’t find any file called libcurl.4.dylib on my macbookpro.
As T-Mobile refused to exchange or refund the dongle I was hoping to install it anyway using your trick. Anyone actually using it? Is there a way to install the dongle while preventing the damage as opposed to fixing it afterwards? cheers..
Does this fix also work for the USB Stick 620?
I have just had a totally miserable weekend after suffering from this. Gutted.
I have a unibody MacBook 13”, but not the pro, so I haven’t firewire, but i have the same problem!
Any solution for me? Can I replace the libcurl file in Single User Mode or maybe with a Snow Leo CD? I don’t wanna rebuild my whole system:S
thx
I have the same issue and same hardware.
I cannot boot into single user mode or target disk mode because macbook unibody doesn’t have firewire port.
I tried to replace file using Mac OS installation disk but cannot replace read only file.
Anyone know how to remove readonly attribute because chmod isn’t working?!?!?
You lifesaver
Found this while checking for firmware upgrades and solutions to the fact that my network control panel only works in 32-bit mode. … fortunately before I’d rebooted!
Many many thanks.
Just purchased this stick with the 10.6 compliant sticker and working fine on OS X 10.6.2.
Just purchased the ZTE modem. It does say MAC OS 10.6 compliant on the box but caused the same problem on my computer running 10.6.2…
This article is useless!
Why? Because packed file is not possible to unpack (single mode Osx, Linux, tar z/j, gunzip) no one works.
Why isn’t here unpacked version of file? Imagine when s.b.(like me) has only one Mac & install DVD is miles away?
So, that’s the reason why is useless…
Please contact someone familiar with the command line who will be able to help you. The file is fine.
I was told to buy a new stick modem (due to length of contract) and this worked but cost £8.99nfor new USB stick 120 modem plus £10 for PAYG usage, to become SL compliant. They didn’t treat Windows 7 the same way! T-mobile are Mac unfriendly, and I will leave and never use them again when my contract is over. Shame on T-mobile, they knew of the problems but wouldn’t help at phone level. Turns out that if I had bought in a shop they would have solved the problem by exchanging for a SL compliant stick modem
So, now T-Mobile have a page up which links to software which will upgrade your stick to be usable with Snow Leopard. Hooray!
http://goo.gl/qg0k
Except the software only runs on Windows. And I have a Mac. Words fail me.
READ!!!
http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/discussions/index?page=answeropen&type=open&searchid=1274469917915&answerid=16777219&iqaction=5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.t-mobile.co.uk%2Fhelp-and-support%2Findex%3Fpage%3Dcontent%26id%3DFA1247%26actp%3Dsearch%26viewlocale%3Den_GB&highlightinfo=6292441,16,31#
With the help of the fine folks at Novamedia, I got my ZTE MF626 to work flawlessly in Snow Leopard (both 32bit and 64bit kernels).
Just follow these simple steps:
1) Download and install launch2net Premium (http://www.novamedia.de/en/mac-launch2net-premium.html)
2) Delete USBDeviceSwitch.kext and NM_MultiModemDriver.kext from /System/Library/Extensions/
3) Install ZTE 1.3.1 drivers (http://rapidshare.com/files/402474110/ZTE_1.3.1_drivers.zip.html)
4) Restart
5) Plug the modem into your Mac. launch2net Premium will detect it and load your carrier’s settings automatically.
6) Connect and enjoy your mobile broadband
OPTIONAL: If you notice the connection is slow, go to System Preferences, click on Network, then on the ZTEUSBModem, then click Advanced…, click the Modem tab, in Vendor choose Other, in Model choose ZTE USB MODEM.
Repeat the same steps for all other ZTE devices listed in the Network preference pane.
Consider purchasing a launch2net Premium license! The demo lasts only 30 minutes!
This is all very well, but it does require you to buy an additional product.
Here’s a ZTE provided patch for the Mac UI: http://rapidshare.com/files/404097085/ZTE_Patch.zip.html
But I prefer launch2net: no APN hunting, integration with Address Book for SMS, MobileHub, powerful statistics, works with other modems, etc.
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